Standing up to terror tactics
24 Nov 2012 10:06 PM GMT
The Pakistan Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has threatened that unless India hands over the body of Ajmal Kasab, who was hanged and buried in Pune two days ago, to his family or to them for an Islamic burial, they are going to target Indians anywhere and everywhere. And after killing them, their bodies will not be returned. This was confirmed by the TTP spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan. India has not reacted to this ridiculous threat and neither should it, because that would give this fringe group some legitimacy, which the Indian government can ill-afford. The Pakistan government, apart from reiterating their opposition to terrorism or terror tactics, has increased security in the heavily fortified Indian embassy in Islamabad.
But the Indian embassy may not be the only target of the lunatic fringe group, whoever they may be. Indian visitors to Pakistan could be targeted too. Is the Indian government going to issue a notice to tourists and visitors desisting them from making planned visits to Pakistan?
The real threat could also be for the many Indians deployed in Afghanistan. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan operates from the lawless tribal region in Pakistan, an area which shares borders with Afghanistan and the access of this ultra-Islamist radical group to Afghan territories can never be underestimated, since it’s Afghanistan which remains the seat of the Taliban, though it has been much weakened in recent years.
But the real issue is exactly on what grounds does a fringe body with no legal or statutory foundation have the audacity to issue a public threat to India. How can the Pakistan government even let this happen? Does it mean that the Pakistan government has given up completely on governing its restless provinces?
Talibans in Afghanistan and in Pakistan have always dispensed with such threats casually, as if they are the real custodians of Islamic dignity anywhere in the world.
The point is, they are not. They remain what they are perceived to be: a bloody terrorist group with Islamic pretensions, like any such radical group anywhere in the world who justify themselves through religion.
But the Indian embassy may not be the only target of the lunatic fringe group, whoever they may be. Indian visitors to Pakistan could be targeted too. Is the Indian government going to issue a notice to tourists and visitors desisting them from making planned visits to Pakistan?
The real threat could also be for the many Indians deployed in Afghanistan. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan operates from the lawless tribal region in Pakistan, an area which shares borders with Afghanistan and the access of this ultra-Islamist radical group to Afghan territories can never be underestimated, since it’s Afghanistan which remains the seat of the Taliban, though it has been much weakened in recent years.
But the real issue is exactly on what grounds does a fringe body with no legal or statutory foundation have the audacity to issue a public threat to India. How can the Pakistan government even let this happen? Does it mean that the Pakistan government has given up completely on governing its restless provinces?
Talibans in Afghanistan and in Pakistan have always dispensed with such threats casually, as if they are the real custodians of Islamic dignity anywhere in the world.
The point is, they are not. They remain what they are perceived to be: a bloody terrorist group with Islamic pretensions, like any such radical group anywhere in the world who justify themselves through religion.
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